The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Although many VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
