The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Although countless VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who killed 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 praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in commerce 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 chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
