The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea 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 reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
