The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined 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 declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist'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 nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
