The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although countless VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
