The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Although many VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
