The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
