The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that office in US history. Although many VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
