The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused 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 initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
