The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
