The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, 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 leave his lair? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
