The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that office in US history. While many VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
