The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of that office in American history. While many VPs were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
