The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. Although many VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
