The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
