The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of that office in US history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
