The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method 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 "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
