The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend 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 reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
