The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. While numerous VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
