The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "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 prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary 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 involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating 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: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
