The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Although countless VPs were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
