The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
