The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
