The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
