The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning 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 "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
