The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet 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 area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
