The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
