The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices 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 dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
