The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
