The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Even though 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 largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
