The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Although countless VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
