The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
