The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
