The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless VPs were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
