The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, 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 nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
