The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing 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 most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
