The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, 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 granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
