The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of that office in American history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
