The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
