The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, 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 misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
