The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of that position in US history. While numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
