The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked 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 stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
