The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
