The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
