The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that office in American history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time 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 region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth 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 $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
