The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing 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 malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty