The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
