The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along 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, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial 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 report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
