The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed 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 September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent 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 recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 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 praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
