The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
