The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level 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 role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
