The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy 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 portrait of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
