The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
