The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
