The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, 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 ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing 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 lair? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
