The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
