The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated 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 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
