The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
