The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that position in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
