The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially 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 CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
