The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author'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 sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although 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 biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
