The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
