The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, 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 military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
