The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book 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 leave his lair? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
