The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
