The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 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 reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
