The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public 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 equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion 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 attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
