The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Although countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
