The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably 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 was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
