The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
