The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, especially 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 CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
