The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, 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? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
