The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
