The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While many VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
