The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
