The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that position in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge 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. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
