The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
