The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
