The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired 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 plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
