The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling 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 evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
