The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate 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 portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 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 praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing 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: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
