The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices 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 not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
