The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, 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 nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
