The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
