The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
