The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. While many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
