The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend 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."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
