The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention 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 attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high 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 role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence 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: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
