The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book 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 background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
