The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation 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 Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept 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 reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
