The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication 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 shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
