The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
