The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes 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 deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
