The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
