The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
