The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that position in American history. While countless VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals 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 reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
