The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, 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 memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
