The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Although many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, 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 shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
