The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Although many VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on 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 the author's 2013 book 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 nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
