The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
