The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume 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 remains unseen leave his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
