The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While many VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating 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 evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
