The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs 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 chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
