The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
