The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
