The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions 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 retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired 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 declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
