The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
