The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that position in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
