The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience 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 oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
