The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing 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: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
