The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. While many VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
