The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
