The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level 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 post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing 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 background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
