The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told 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 was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
