The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While many vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, 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 reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
