The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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 participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the individuals 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 praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
