The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
