The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
