The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
