The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier 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 observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
