The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on 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 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
