The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 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."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
