The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, 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 corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
