The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense 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. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
