The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, 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 corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
