The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of that position in American history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book 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 nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty