The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
