The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
