The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, 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 lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
