The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended 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 represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
