The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, 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 founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
