The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
