The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 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."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
