The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that office in US history. While countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
