The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks 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 secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked 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 stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
