The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
