The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous VPs were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist'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 evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
