The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge 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 also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
