The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
