The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
