The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion 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 taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions 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 not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume 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 shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
