The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
