The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, 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 reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
