The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist'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 sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
