The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture 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 praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
