The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices 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 not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics 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 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
