The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management 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 saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, 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 corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
