The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. 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 oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
