The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
