The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker'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 evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
