The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired 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 stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
