The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along 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 pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it 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 area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the bastards 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 recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty