The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Although countless VPs were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
