The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
