The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
