The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker'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 malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
