The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
