The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to 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 stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 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 recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating 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: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background 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 largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
