The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of that position in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
