The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After 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 announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty