The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. While many VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
