The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. While numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
