The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that position in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
