The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it 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 region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided 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 opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, 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 floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
