The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
