The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion 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 participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted 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 Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 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 praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
