The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder 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 image of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
