The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Although countless VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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 gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed 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 announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
