The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
