The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
