The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
