The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
