The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise 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 oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
