The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
