The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
However 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 region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
