The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
