The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned 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 being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high 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 role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
