The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it back then and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating 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: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
