The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Although numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head 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 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
