The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
