The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. 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 biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
