The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
