The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
