The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 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 credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
