The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
