The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion 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 taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
