The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
