The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion 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 attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to 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 announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication 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 corner that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
