The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture 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 voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
