The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 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 recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, 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 emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
