The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
