The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
