The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. While many vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, 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 surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
