The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
