The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence 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, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
