The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of that office in US history. Whereas many VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
