The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication 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 background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
