The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, 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 engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", 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 interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
