The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 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 praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
