The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
