The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
