The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, 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, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
