The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that position in US history. Although numerous VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
