The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless VPs were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives 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: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
