The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
