The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
