The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
