The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction 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 response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head 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 Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling 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: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
