The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards 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 Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
