The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called 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 come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
