The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place 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 deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
