The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. While many vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow 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 announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 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 Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author'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 nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
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 package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
