The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Although countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted 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 create procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
