The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While many vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured 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 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 educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing 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: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
