The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
