The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of that position in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
