The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 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 praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
