The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that position in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
