The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that office in American history. While many VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
