The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist'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 shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
