The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer 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. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
