The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
