The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
