The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
