The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
