The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in 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 shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
