The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, 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 nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
