The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked 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 objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
