The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 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 praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
