The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
