The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable 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 Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated 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 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 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 invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
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 Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
