The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
