The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included 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. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication 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 shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
