The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. While numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
