The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected 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 individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
