The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
