The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. While countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
