The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the bastards who killed 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 took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
