The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Although many VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
