The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While countless VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort 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.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
