The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head 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. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
