The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
