The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
