The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
