The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
