The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While countless VPs were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention 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 gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
