The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary 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. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, 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 remains unseen leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
