The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, 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 sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
