The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker'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 evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
