The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover 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.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, especially 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 chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
