The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution 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, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
