The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
