The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head 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 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
