The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Although countless VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit 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 step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
