The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
