The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
