The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
