The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
