The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections 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 chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
