The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume 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 corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
