The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
