The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty