The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
