The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
