The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Although countless VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session 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 defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
