The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, 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 engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
