The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
