The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
