The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. While many VPs were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
