The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas 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 Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
