The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
But 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 region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book 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 emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
