The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
