The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
