The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
