The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
