The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
