The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. While many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior 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 not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 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 took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
