The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
