The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
