The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author'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 evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
