The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
