The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
