The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While many VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
