The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple 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 declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
