The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along 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 vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or 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 faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
