The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Although many VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association 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 encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining 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 orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. While 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 most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
