The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
