The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
