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. While many VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention 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 session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
