The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
