The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed 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 Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
