The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted 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 Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling 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: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
