The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both thin or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion 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 quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
