The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Although many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing 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: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, especially 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 CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
