The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume 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 nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
