The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense 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. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
