The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed 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 actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes 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."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
