The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
