The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary 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 suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
