The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention 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 participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
