The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
