The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the bastards 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 earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
