The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
