The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in American history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
