The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary 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 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked 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 plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker'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 evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
