The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
