The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level 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 retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
