The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
