The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that office in American history. Although countless VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
