The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
