The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
