The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Although countless VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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 gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
