The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of that office in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations 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 objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
