The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that position in American history. While many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
