The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense 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 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
