The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
