The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions 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 not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend 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 merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
