The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks 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 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
