The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
