The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management 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 post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
