The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
