The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
