The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea 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 reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
