The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, 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, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following 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 plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
