The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
