The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker'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 malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. 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 resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
