The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction 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 educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, 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 involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers 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 the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
