The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer 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. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked 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 announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
