The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that position in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes 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 secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore 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 furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
