The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
