The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of that position in American history. Although numerous VPs were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, 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 military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier 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 retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
