The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that office in US history. While numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
