The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. Although many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
