The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that position in American history. While many VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [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 earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
