The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea 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 cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
