The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along 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 invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
