The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
