The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs 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 chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
