The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
