The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated 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 taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
