The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
