The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
