The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, 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 operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
