The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
