The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
