The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in American history. While many VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
