The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
