The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed 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 declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author'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 background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
