The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief 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 participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
