The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
