The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. While many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
