The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high 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 role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
