The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. While countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, 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 shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
