The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
