The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to 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 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
