The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author'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 sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
