The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting 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 defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
