The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
