The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although countless VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
