The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. While numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, 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 playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
