The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views 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 not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
