The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
