The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
