The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
