The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
