The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably 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 running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
