The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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 attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
