The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary 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. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
