The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that position in American history. While countless VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge 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 also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
