The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
