The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
