The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
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 suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author'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 operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
