The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
