The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
