The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
