The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
