The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
