The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that position in American history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
