The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that office in US history. Although many VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion 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 taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker'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 remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
