The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
