The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
