The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along 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 pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 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 praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, 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 cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
