The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
