The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author'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 corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
