The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that office in American history. While countless VPs were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. 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 pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to 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 declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
