The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 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 effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
