The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high 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 position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating 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: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
