The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
However 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 retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, 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 reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
