The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of that office in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired 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 announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
