The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives 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 September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
