The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated 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 having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution 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 subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
