The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 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 credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating 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 sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
