The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing 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: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
