The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating 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: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
