The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors 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 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
