The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in American history. While countless VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
