The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas many VPs were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices 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 dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
