The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
