The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. Although many VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, 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, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
