The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
