The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Although many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in official appearances 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. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance 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 objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
