The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along 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 strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 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 praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
