The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level 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 position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, 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 background that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
