The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
