The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that office in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
