The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration'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 subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, 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 nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
