The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
