The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
