The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
