The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
