The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
