The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public 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 peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
