The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
