The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. While countless VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction 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 response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
