The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely 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 dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
