The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume 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 corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
