The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships 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 chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
