The late 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 the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention 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 gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
