The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed 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 Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information 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 establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
