The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to 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 declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
