The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
