The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion 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 taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees 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 right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
