The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
