The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives 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 earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
