The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, 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 diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 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 praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
