The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
