The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
