The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of that office in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor 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 repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
