The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. While countless VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 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 recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating 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 evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
