The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
