The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
