The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas many VPs were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture 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.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 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 recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
