The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
