The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that office in US history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
