The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After 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 stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
