The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response 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. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in 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 biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application 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 dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
