The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
