The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While many vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices 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 position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
