The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although countless VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group 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 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
