The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary 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. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
