The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
