The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as 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, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, 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 effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
