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 American history. Although many VPs were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture 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 Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of 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 White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
