The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated 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.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 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."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
