The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly 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 was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
