The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that office in US history. Although many VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
