The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted 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 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
