The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, 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 granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
