The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons 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 September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head 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 held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on 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 journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
