The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked 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 declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
