The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included 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 terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
