The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, 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 no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
