The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
