The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted 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 taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
