The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, 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 involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
