The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove 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 declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
