The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session 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 nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
