The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 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 recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist'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 malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
