The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed 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 announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume 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 remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
