The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof 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 suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices 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 not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
