The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of that office in US history. While numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
