The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After 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 stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
