The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head 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. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling 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: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
