The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary 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 carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
