The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship 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 questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though 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 oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
