The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured 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 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation 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 proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme 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 ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman 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 deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
