The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
