The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
