The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
