The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn 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 notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
