The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, 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 operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
