The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
