The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
