The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
