The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
