The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
