The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
