The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that office in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume 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 background that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
