The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes 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. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
