The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
