The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
