The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons 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. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
