The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many VPs were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
