The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that office in American history. While many VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
