The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Although countless VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 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 recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
