The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
