The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed 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 announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
