The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
