The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, 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 was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
