The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
