The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist'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 background that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
