The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary 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 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume 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 shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure 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 totaling over $20m|twenty
