The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
