The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous VPs were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration'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 "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
