The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that office in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head 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. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume 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 shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty