The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, 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 shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
