The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that position in American history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention 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 meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, 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 military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
