The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing 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: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
