The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing 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: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
