The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the individuals who killed 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 recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing 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: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
