The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
