The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Although numerous VPs were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist'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 corner that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
