The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary 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 made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
