The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch 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 deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
