The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I believe it today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
