The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless VPs were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
