The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, 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 surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
