The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, 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 corner that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
