The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that office in US history. Although many VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
