The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
