The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although countless VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked 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 declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
