The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous VPs were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
